Monovision contact lens

November 16, 2011 3:42 PM

I am going to be testing monovision contact lenses for a few days. If you have tried them - how long did it take you to get used to them? And was it easy to switch backwards and forwards between glasses and monovision contacts?

I asked these questions when I picked up my trial lenses but unfortunately the optomestrist was unavailable and the receptionist had knowledge about progressive contacts but not monovision.

posted by nixit to Health & Fitness (4 answers total)

Best answer: I wore monovision contacts for about a year, but decided I wasn't thrilled with them, so went back to wearing single vision contacts with reading glasses over them as needed. When it finally got to the place that I needed to have the reading glasses somewhere on my person every.where.I.went, I decided to go back to monovision contacts and that's what I'm wearing now. I didn't really feel like it took very long for me to get used to them; my main complaint is that there is a "mid zone" where neither the far distance or the close distance is appropriate and I just don't have good vision at that spot. Originally it seemed that "mid zone" was right where my computer monitor was, but my ophthalmologist worked with me to dial that in a little better and that was an improvement. The only time I wear my glasses is at home, at night, after a long day. I think there is a bit of an adjustment when putting on glasses after taking out contacts, but it's not something that I find really off-putting. My original vision problem was myopia, plus I have a pretty strong correction for astigmatism (toric lenses), for what it's worth.

tl;dr answer -- I found the adjustment period to be just a day or two and although I notice an adjustment when switching from contacts to glasses, it's not really a problem. However, I'm not a HUGE fan of monovision contacts, I just find them better than the contacts + reading glasses alternative.

Good luck!
posted by SweetTeaAndABiscuit at 6:13 PM on November 16, 2011

Best answer: It took me exactly no time at all to get used to them. Put them in, and they were great. I can see far, I can see near, I can see the middle, all good. This is pretty remarkable, since I'm very nearsighted (-12.00 diopter), and into the age when I would be needing reading glasses. I can switch from my glasses (non-monovision) to my contacts randomly from day to day with no need for any adjustment, it just works. This is apparently a very individual thing; some people don't like the effect at all. I hope you're as lucky with it as I've been.
posted by Corvid at 7:53 PM on November 16, 2011

Best answer: I tried monovision and never could adjust to it.

What I did instead of contacts plus reading glasses was to do the reverse. I wear bifocal contacts dialed down so I can read close up with them in, and glasses to pull the prescription up to full strength for driving, watching movies, driving at night, etc. The contacts are strong enough for everyday wear but I can still read. I suggested it to my eye doctor for the exact reason you gave; I got tired of wearing reading glasses just to check my phone, watch, etc. He said he had never done it before but agreed to try it.

Now I have a set of sunglasses with a slight prescription for daytime driving, and a pair of corresponding glasses for other times that I really need to be able to see clearly at a distance. The rest of the time I can read my phone, check my watch, read on the computer, etc. just fine without the glasses.
posted by tamitang at 7:57 PM on November 16, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks for your answers. They have all been really helpful.

I tried the lenses today and wore them for about 8 hours. I found them a bit disconcerting at first and discovered that like SweetTeaAndABiscuit I have an area in my middle vision that is difficult. I'm going to have another go over the weekend.

For what it's worth I had no problem adjusting to my glasses on when I got home from work.
posted by nixit at 12:53 AM on November 18, 2011